


Purple

by AcesOfSpade



Series: Ace's Random One-Shot Collection [35]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Helpful Levy, Is post-Phantom Lord fluff for these two idiots, M/M, Oblivious natsu, Phantom Lord Arc, Realizations, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, enjoy, kind of, that's really all this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 16:31:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13930908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcesOfSpade/pseuds/AcesOfSpade
Summary: For as long as he could remember, Natsu had what looked like a flurry of snowflakes trailing up his left forearm, from the back of his hand to his elbow. It wrapped around the entire part of his arm, such a pale clour it was invisible to most people unless Natsu pointed it out specifically. As a kid, he’d been fascinated by the design, even though he didn’t know what it was or why it was there. Igneel didn’t think he needed to know what it was, so Natsu didn’t know for the longest time. He just thought it was a birthmark, just something that was there.He only found out after the dust had settled and the Guild had been rebuilt after Phantom Lord, and it was an unconventional realization to put it mildly.





	Purple

**Author's Note:**

> Eyyy *shoots finger guns* I was looking for prompts I could use for HP and the MCU (since today is Remus and Bucky's birthdays respectively), but my brain shouted 'legit Gratsu soulmate fic' the entire time. So, this happened.

For as long as he could remember, Natsu had what looked like a flurry of snowflakes trailing up his left forearm, from the back of his hand to his elbow. It wrapped around the entire part of his arm, such a pale clour it was invisible to most people unless Natsu pointed it out specifically. As a kid, he’d been fascinated by the design, even though he didn’t know what it was or why it was there. Igneel didn’t think he needed to know what it was, so Natsu didn’t know for the longest time. He just thought it was a birthmark, just something that was there.

 

Even after joining Fairy Tail, Natsu didn’t know the true meaning of the snowflakes. Since he’d decided it was a birthmark, he didn’t ask anybody else about it. He almost told the Guild Master once, because it got really cold sometimes, and Natsu was scared. He ultimately decided not to, braving the icy designs digging into his arm.

 

Despite not understanding the importance of the design, Natsu was unknowingly following his destiny. Clashing powers and personalities aside, Natsu found himself falling for Fairy Tail’s resident ice mage, Gray. If Natsu were actually paying attention, he’d notice that the snowflakes started freezing whenever he and Gray fought, specifically whenever they made skin-to-skin contact. He just knew he liked being around Gray sometimes, because he could calm him down or cheer him up better than anybody else. The snowflakes sometimes froze whenever they felt like it (at least, according to Natsu; it happened whenever Gray’s emotions were heightened in any way).

 

As the two got older and began to understand attraction of all kinds, Natsu came to the realization that he was gay when he was 15. He didn’t think much of it, because why would he? It was just part of himself, it was probabl normal. Like the snowflakes on his arm or the slit-like pupils of his eyes.

 

Natsu finally learned the truth about his snowflakes from Levy after the whole mess with Phantom Lord. He had been trying to warm his arm up after the snowflakes got particularly cold, as he could swear his blood was freezing in his veins. He hadn’t notcied, but the deisgn was glowing a faint white-blue colour, like Gray’s magic seal. Levy noticed though, and it piqued her interest. She approached him with a curious look, eyes fixed on the glowing design on his left arm.

 

“I didn’t know you had a soulmark, Natsu!” she commented, smiling excitedly. “They’re not really common anymore, especially not as beautiful as yours.”

 

Natsu looked up in confusion, temporarily abandoning his mission to regain feeling in his left arm. “Soulmark?” he muttered, glancing down at his arm. “Oh, you mean this? It’s just a birthmark,” he shook his head.

 

Levy frowned slightly, but quickly realized something. “No one’s ever told you, have they?” she asked, sitting across from Natsu at the table he occupied. “That’s not a birthmark, Natsu. Well, in a way it is. But it’s more important than that,” she shook her head. “That design on your arm, it’s sort of like a pathway, connected to your soulmate. That soulmate has their own design, and they both react the same way. Whenever a soulmate pair makes bare skin contact, their marks radiate a dull immitation of the other’s powers. It can happen when either soulmate is super emotional too. If both soulmates are feeling the same thing at the same time, the imitation gets stronger, and their designs glow. Like yours is now,” she went on, gesturing to his still-glowing arm.

 

Natsu took a moment to actually _look_ at his arm, black serpent-like eyes wide in awe as he saw the blue-white glow eminating from his forearm. “Whoa...” he muttered, for once at a loss for words. He was too caught up in the child-like wonder he was feeling to really process, but that wore off quickly when Levy gasped softly, a hand flying to cover her mouth to poorly muffle a giggle.

 

“What?” Natsu blinked, looking back up a Levy with a frown. “What’s so funny?”

 

“Your mark. It’s _snowflakes_ , Natsu,” Levy pointed out, an amused smile tugging at her lips. “Soulmarks are determined by two factors: powers of your soulmate, and the strength of your bond. The larger and more intricate the design, the stronger and deeper the bond.” She stoppd there, wanting to see if Natsu could put the pieces together himself.

 

It took him a few minutes of contemplation before his eyes widened, mouth falling open slightly. “Shit...” he muttered softly, child-like wonder replaced by nervousness and what could be considered fear for the Dragon Slayer.

 

Thinking about it, Natsu wasn’t entirely surprised it was Gray. From what he’d learned about soulmates in passing, Gray really did seem like his perfect match. At least to Natsu himself, considering his serious crush on the other mage.

 

He was pulled from his panicked thoughts by Levy’s hand on his right wrist, drawing his attention instead to her.

 

“Just talk to him,” she said gently, a tiny flicker of amusement in her eyes. “Who knows, you might be surprised,” she added with a giggle, dropping his wrist and getting up to return to Jet and Droy.

 

Natsu stayed at the table for a few more minutes, eyes fixated on his no longer glowing left arm, tracing the tiny snowflakes with his right index finger. His mind swarmed with dozens of thoughts, some positive and some negative. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t notice when someone claimed the spot Levy had recently vacated across from him, until he felt an ice-cold hand on his right wrist.

 

Natsu’s coal-black eyes snapped up from his arm quicker than they’d snaped from anything else, widening in panic. He should take Levy’s advice, because Gray was _right here,_ and had come to _him_ instead of Natsu having to find him. His mind was still short-circuiting however, running even more possible scenarios that were increasingly worse with each new one.

 

“Hey Flame-Brain,” Gray said in his usual tone, though there was something hidden in it that really drew Natsu back to reality. “You okay? I saw Levy come over to talk to you, and you seemed pretty skittish,” he told him, tone falling away to reveal genuine concern. It wasn’t the first time Gray had used that tone with Natsu, but something felt different this time. Something _serious_ and _big_.

 

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Natsu tried to say with a cheery tone and a smile, but his tone fell flat and his smile was obviously forced. Gray didn’t have to say anything; he just had to give Natsu the Look, the ‘cut the bullshit’ look that the two had perfected for each other over their years of friendship. “...Okay, I’m not fine,” he mumbled after a moment, looking down at the table, trying not to look at where Gray’s hand still sat on his wrist. “And before you jump to conclusions, because I know you will, it’s not Levy’s fault. Well, not entirely. She was just the messanger, I guess.”

 

Gray adopted a puzzled expression, tilting his head slightly to prompt Natsu to continue. He knew better than to interrupt when Natsu was actually talking about something that bothered him.

 

“You’ve seen the thing on my arm, right?” Natsu said softly, laying his left forearm flat along the table to show Gray the snowflakes he’d grown rather fond of. They had stopped glowing, and thank fuck were they not freezing cold, but they were a darker colour than usual, more visible. “I’ve always thought it was a birthmark. According to Levy, it’s a soulmark,” he went on, eyes drifting from the table to his left arm, still not looking directly at Gray. “A sign of an indescribable bond between two mages, a sign of a bond connecting the mage’s very souls.” While Levy hadn’t used those words exactly, Natsu had read between the lines and pieced it together himself. “She said the design depends on the two mages. The actual design itself reflects the powers of the mage’s partner, and the size is apparently supposed to say how strong the bond is.”

 

“And you have snowflakes,” Gray muttered softly, eyes wide. He felt a small seering pain in his right forearm, one he’d grown accustomed to over the years. He ignored it, focusing on the main issue for now.

 

“Yeah,” Natsu nodded, biting his lip briefly. He didn’t know what else to say. Okay, that was a lie. There were so many things he wanted to say, but his throat closed up in protest at the thought, leaving him truly speechless.

 

Noticing the look on Natsu’s face, and his silence, Gray found himself laying his right arm on the table next to Natsu’s left, displaying a beautiful design of curling flames, from his hand to his elbow on his forearm. The flames were a pale red colour, a lighter shade of a very familiar magic seal. Natsu’s jaw almost dropped when he saw what Gray was showing him, even more at a loss for words than before. He traced the flames with his eyes, following the sweeping curves and flared edges, as if trying to commit them to memory.

 

How had he not noticed before? Gray was notorious for walking around shirtless, which meant his arms were very much on full display. Natsu felt pretty clueless for not having noticed before, frankly.

 

The two sat in silence, a silence that wasn’t awkward nor entirely comfortable. It was some sort of middle ground, a mixed bowl of emotions, waiting to spill one way or the other.

 

As it seemed, the bowl wasn’t spilled by either mage intentionally. Instead, it was spilled by the designs of their parallel arms in the form of rather vibrant light emitting from the lines. Instead of the blue Natsu had seen earlier, his snowflakes were glowing a fiery red colour, like the fire he was used to. Gray’s was glowing icy blue, a sharp contrast to the intensity of Natsu’s red.

 

The glowing lights danced almost danced off their skin, melding together into an interesting purple colour about a half foot above their arms. Both mages watched, transfixed at the sight before them. The way the lights danced, melded into one, was breath-taking to watch. In fact, Natsu was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a bit while watching.

 

Since the two were distracted, neither heard a victorious cheer from Mirajane, nor a defeated grumble from Cana and Laki as they handed over a handful of jewels to the white haired barmaid.

 

Once the lights died down, Natsu and Gray’s eyes met from across the table. They both looked like they wanted to say something but weren’t brave enough to actually say, both acutely aware of the fact that Gray was still holding Natsu’s wrist.

 

“That was...” Natsu mumbled in awe, finally breaking the silence between the two. “Holy _fuck_.”

 

“Yeah. Holy fuck is right,” Gray nodded, absently shifting so he was leaning over the table as if to just get closer to Natsu without getting up and actually moving. It seemed Natsu had the same idea, because they met each other halfway, coal-black eyes locked on midnight-blue wordlessly.

 

They didn’t need words to figure out what to do next. It felt natural, familiar even, the two closing the very small distance between their faces for a kiss.

 

It was soft and uncertain, yet at the same time it was confident and fierce. Their bodies didn’t know what to do, but their souls were finally meeting in an intimate embrace once again. For their souls, this was coming home, back to each other. Their bodies were inexperienced though, this being either of their first kiss. It was clumsy and awkward, but it felt _right_. Sure, the entire guild was probably staring at them, but they didn’t care. All they cared about was the sparks trailing up their spines and blossoming through their chests.


End file.
